CrazyQuilts

vii

Contents

1 HistOriCAl BACkgrOuND 3

2 PersONAl exPerieNCe 16

3 BegiNNiNg yOur CrAzy Quilt 35

4 stem stitCH & VAriAtiONs 59

5 BlANket stitCH & VAriAtiONs 65

6 HerriNgBONe stitCH & VAriAtiONs 76

7 CretAN stitCH & VAriAtiONs 87

8 CHeVrON stitCH & VAriAtiONs 94

9 COmBiNAtiON stitCHes 99

10 feAtHerstitCH & VAriAtiONs 105

11 CHAiN stitCH & VAriAtiONs 125

12 freNCH kNOts 138

13 BeADs 145

14 fABulOus flOwers 158

glOssAry 173

resOurCes 177

iNDex 179

3

historical background

I h a d a l r e a d y started a collection of Victorian crazy quilts and assorted ephemera when Penny mcmorris’ book, Crazy Quilts, captured my attention in regards to antique crazy quilts. with my intellectual curiosity honed by her scholarly work, i started delving into that grand era of crazy quilting

myself, fascinated by the crazy quilts, their makers, and their stories.During the years between 1880 and 1890, crazy quilts were at their

height of popularity in the united states. seemingly, every woman was working on one, or at least collecting silks, velvets, and damasks to make one. Her workbox probably held reels of silk thread and patterns gar-nered from the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar or Godey’s Lady’s Book. she may have talked her husband out of a necktie or handkerchief to include

1

1.1

4 c r a z y q u i l t s

in her quilt. Or, she might have decided to paint flowers onto taffeta to make her crazy quilt unique.

Crazy quilts are ornate, luscious, time-consuming, seemingly ran-dom works of textile art that provided Victorian women with a proper, accepted means to convey their thoughts and desires through an artistic outlet. By means of rich fabrics and silken threads, a woman could ex-press her political, religious, social, and personal viewpoints. Perhaps a secret or two would also be wrought into the intricate mixture and layers of color and texture.

for me, a crazy quilt must have two distinctive features: random piec-ing and decorative embroidery. Only rarely were traditional quilting stitches used. some crazy quilts were tied, but most were not. Often, the quilt had no batting. Crazy quilts were, and still are, art quilts, not utilitarian quilts. Crazy quilts are not made for warmth; they are made for their beauty and expressive qualities.

1.2

h i s t o r i c a l b a c k g r o u n d 5

“it is extremely doubtful whether this class of needlework will ever lose its popularity. it serves so admirably to use odd bits of silk or other fabrics, and is really so artistic, if properly made, that its hold upon the feminine mind is not to be wondered at. it may interest many to know that the first ‘crazy quilt’ was made at the tewksbury (mass.) almshouse by a demented, but gentle, inmate, who delighted to sew together, in haphazard fashion, all the odd pieces given to her. One day a lady visitor was shown the quilt as a sample of ‘poor martha’s crazy work.’ the con-glomeration of color, bright and dark, of every conceivable shape and size, caught the visitor’s fancy, and within a week, she, herself, was making a crazy quilt. And thence the furore spread.” so states the pamphlet, “Art Needlework,” by mme. irene la tour, c. 1916.

this is a lovely bit of myth. the “crazy” in crazy quilting had noth-ing to do with one’s mental status. it referred, instead, to the random, or crazy, arrangement of fabric upon a foundation cloth and to the riot of color added through embroidery upon seams and within patches.

some believe the random effect of piecing odd bits of cloth was a frugal effort continued from colonial times, when fabric was difficult to obtain in America. every scrap of cloth would be saved and utilized into a “crumb” quilt. But, these working quilts were not adorned with seam treatments and embroidered motifs. they were strictly a means to join together scraps of cloth into a workable blanket.

A more widely held belief is that the Centennial exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, introduced Japanese aesthetics to Americans. the cracks, or crazing, on the Japanese ceramics resembled the crumb piecing of utilitarian quilts. the Japanese aesthetic of asymmetry and use of natural motifs and silk embroidery caught the imagination of Ameri-can women. the two were then combined to produce stunning textile works of art known as crazy quilts.

the popularity of crazy quilting in the last quarter of the nineteenth century was widespread and intense. On march 16, 1885, a Crazy work and Needle Art show was held at the Horticultural Hall in Boston, mas-sachusetts. the show’s catalogue listed 1,808 items on exhibit. it also included drawings for crazy-quilt stitches (1.3).

some of the items listed within the catalogue include:

2. Crazy Quilt, consists of 5,000 pieces, exhibited by miss ella mcArthur.

19. Pin Cushion of Crazy work, made forty years ago, exhibited by mrs. roach.

6 c r a z y q u i l t s

29. sofa Pillow of Crazy work, exhibited by mrs. i. w. Derby, made by a gentleman, and contains 2,500 pieces.

42. Crazy Quilt, entered by miss H. i. ellis, made of pieces of the dresses of the leading society ladies in washington.

123. Crazy Chair, upholstered by the exhibitor, mrs. e. Dunne.157. Crazy Dress, exhibited by mrs. A. l. tate.174. Crazy mantle lambrequin, exhibited by mrs. geo. Pope.189. Crazy Quilt, made by a lady sixty-four years of age, exhibited

by mrs. thos. Cahill.273. Crazy fan, exhibited by mrs. H. Hart.274. Crazy Broom Case, exhibited by mrs. H. l. Hart.

1.3

h i s t o r i c a l b a c k g r o u n d 7

357. Crazy Quilt, seventy-three years of age, exhibited by mrs. lydia Beebe.

382. Crazy Quilt, made by a lady seventy-five years of age, thirty-five years ago, exhibited by miss m. C. stimpson.

398. Crazy slumber robe, exhibited by mrs. Julie s. warden.421. Crazy table scarf, exhibited by miss m. C. Belcher.428. Crazy sofa Pillow, containing one hundred and sixty pieces

and fifty different stitches; exhibited by miss mabel l. wilson, twelve years of age.

493. Crazy table scarf, exhibited by miss edith m. Bryant, age five years.

715. Crazy Quilt, exhibited by mrs. f. Parker, made by a lady ninety-two years of age.

760. Crazy Quilt, made in eight days, exhibited by mrs. J. l. loveland.

776. Crazy Drapery, made by mr. w. e. Prior.792. mat, made by mrs. B. knight, of elkhart, indiana, a lady

eighty-six years of age, without glasses; exhibited by mrs. D. w. knight.927b. Crazy Quilt, of 2,290 pieces, exhibited by mrs. wain-

wright. to be sold for $50.973. sofa Pillow, 3,276 pieces, exhibited by mr. A. Cleveland; to

be sold, $100. would take $75.1449. satin Crazy Quilt, exhibited by mrs. ezra H. Crane.1498. Crazy tidy, exhibited by mrs. J. D. kidder.1570. Quilt, exhibited by mrs. H. r. morse. this quilt contains

10,100 pieces.1658a. Crazy Bible Cover, exhibited by miss e. m. garland.1683. embroidered thermometer, exhibited by mrs. william

Cushing.1794. Oriental Crazy work, exhibited by miss sarah smith.1853. Crazy Quilt, exhibited by miss A. maud smith. this was

made when fourteen years of age, without a thimble.

it is interesting to note that in this 1885 exhibit, number 19 was a “Pin Cushion of Crazy work,” made forty years ago. that would mean it was made in 1845. i would like to see what the pincushion looked like! And number 382 was made thirty-five years before the exhibit, in 1850! was it made as i define crazy quilting now, composed of random piecing and decorative embroidery? if so, that would date crazy quilting well be-fore the 1876 centennial exhibition. i believe crazy quilting had been around for a number of years and simply acquired the name “crazy quilt-ing” (crazy patch, crazy patchwork, or crazy work) after the exhibition, due to the resemblance of its mosaic-like patches to the crackled and crazed Japanese pottery glazes on display.

8 c r a z y q u i l t s

A quilter’s age was often given if the maker was more than sixty years old or younger than fifteen years old. Apparently, to inquire of the age of a lady who fell between those parameters was impolite.

the exhibit also included entries made by men; i give several examples in the cited list. it seemed everyone wanted in on the fad of crazy quilting. Note that a sofa pillow, number 29, made by a gentleman, had 2,500 pieces. the size of the quilt isn’t stated, but that is an ambitious project! However, mrs. morse’s quilt, number 1570, contains 10,100 pieces. we have a winner!

Crazy quilts weren’t the only crazy-style items entered into this ex-hibition. As the list shows, the exhibit included crazy bible covers, crazy drapery, crazy tidies, crazy broom covers, crazy pincushions, crazy chairs, crazy pillows, crazy clothing, and crazy table covers. seemingly, anything made of fabric could be made in crazy-quilt fashion.

A few items have a price associated with them. A sofa pillow, made by mr. Cleveland, containing 3,276 pieces was priced at $100. in today’s dollars, that would equal $2,439. mrs. wainwright’s crazy quilt, consist-ing of 2,290 pieces, was a bargain at $50, or $1,219.50 in today’s dollars. whether they sold or not is a mystery. fred kyle, the organizer of the Boston exhibit, offered gold and silver medals for the winners.

figure 1.4 shows a detail of painted pansies on velvet on a Victorian crazy quilt.

in November 1885, another exhibition highlighted a dizzying dis-play of crazy quilt work. this Crazy Patchwork and Needlework show, held in manhattan at the masonic temple on twenty-third street and sixth Avenue, was also organized by kyle. Hundreds of needlework ex-amples were eagerly displayed, as each participant wanted to show off his or her skill with the needle. “An hour in the masonic Hall will give any-one a fair idea of what women’s work may come to when it becomes merely women’s leisure employment,” said the New York Times. the same article stated that one crazy table cover contained four million stitches! this cover was created by mrs. C. y. Bogert. i can’t imagine the time it took to count those stitches, let alone to create them.

the lure of prizes of gold and silver medals (over eight hundred to be awarded) must have spurred the enthusiasm of the crazy quilters. there were prizes for the largest crazy quilt, the crazy quilt with the largest number of pieces, the greatest variety of stitches, the oddest design, the oddest materials, and the crazy quilt with the greatest number of distin-guished autographs.

h i s t o r i c a l b a c k g r o u n d 9

the state Historical society of missouri has, on display, a crazy quilt made by mrs. David mcwilliams. Her lovely velvet-bordered quilt is rather crazy as it contains a beautifully embroidered tree with, at the base of its trunk, two taxidermically stuffed chipmunks. i don’t know if she entered her crazy quilt into either the Boston or manhattan shows, but i would definitely have given her the prize for oddest materials!

Although prizes were offered for the manhattan exhibition, none were ever awarded. the New York Times, on December 5, 1885, revealed that the gorham manufacturing Company, from whom kyle had ordered the prize medals, was looking for his whereabouts. the newspaper re-ported that the announced awards “must have been a pleasant little fiction, invented as a gilded bait to lure on the owners of crazy quilts.” so, the winners never received their prizes, but perhaps that was of little impor-tance. As the Times commented snidely, the medals weren’t even made of

1.4

10 c r a z y q u i l t s

gold or silver, but “of base metal, silver plated, and worth only a few cents each—such medals, in fact, as no lady would care to possess.”

this disappointment of fictitious prizes did not deter women and men from making crazy quilts. it seemed everyone either made a crazy-patch quilt or received one as a loving gift. And if they refrained from stitching a full-sized crazy quilt, then they made a crazy-worked “small,” such as a table cover, wall pocket, or cushion.

the popularity of crazy quilting is illustrated in the following poem, published in Good Housekeeping magazine, October 25, 1890. it is one of several pieces on the new fad that appeared in a number of ladies’ magazines.

The Crazy QuiltOh, say, can you see by the dawn’s early light,what you failed to perceive at the twilight’s last gleaming;A crazy concern that through the long nightO’er the bed where you slept was so saucily streaming;the silk patches so fair,round, three-cornered, and squaregives proof that the lunatic bed-quilt is there.Oh, the crazy-quilt mania triumphantly raves,And maid, wife, and widow are bound as its slavesOn that quilt dimly seen as you rouse from your sleepyour long-missing necktie in silence reposes,And the filoselle insects that over it creep,A piece of your vest half-conceals, half discloses;there is kensington-stitchin designs that are rich,snow-flake, arrasene, point russe, and all sich.Oh, the crazy-quilt mania, how long will it rave?And how long will fair woman be held its slave?And where is the wife who so vauntingly sworethat nothing on earth her affections could smother?she crept from your side at the chiming of fourAnd is down in the parlour at work on another.your breakfasts are spoiled,And your dinners half-boiled,And your efforts to get a square supper are foiledBy the crazy-quilt mania that fiendishly raves,And to which all the women are absolute slaves.And thus it has been since the panic began,

h i s t o r i c a l b a c k g r o u n d 11

in many loved homes it has wrought desolation,And cursed is the power by many a man,that has brought him so close to the verge of starvation,But make it she must,she will do it or bust,Beg, swap, and buy pieces or get them on trust,Oh, the crazy-quilt mania, may it soon cease to ravein the land of the free and the home of the brave.

—unidentified

in July 1884, Godey’s Lady’s Book devoted several pages to crazy patch. Godey’s “work Department” contained the following:

the design given for crazy patchwork, now so fashionable, shows the different forms the pieces may be made, although a great deal must be left to the ingenuity and taste of the person designing it.

1.5

12 c r a z y q u i l t s

Different colored silks, satins, velvets, and plushes are used, har-mony of color being aimed at in the arrangement. A piece of Canton flannel eighteen inches square is taken, and the pieces of silk ar-ranged upon it. the edges of each piece should be turned in, and af-terwards covered over with fancy stitches in colored silks or gold thread; numerous stitches are shown in our design; the greater the variety that adorn a quilt, the handsomer it is considered. the pieces are further ornamented with embroidered designs, or figures in etch-ing, with colored silks. After the squares are completed, they are jointed together with fancy stitches, and the whole quilt should then have a border of plush nine inches deep put around it, with a lining throughout of satin. A pretty splasher can be made by reproducing the design to the size required, tracing it on coarse white linen, and

1.6

h i s t o r i c a l b a c k g r o u n d 13

doing the work with colored silks. it should then be trimmed all around with lace, and the two upper corners ornamented with rib-bon bows.

elsewhere in the same volume, a story, “the Career of a Crazy Quilt,” was published. it tells of the correspondence between two friends, marie (who resides in Albany, New york) and Heloise (who lives in rochester, New york). Both women decide to create a crazy quilt (1.6). they ex-change detailed letters—describing the project’s conception, their gath-ering of materials, and the construction of their quilts. these letters give the readers a glimpse into one way a crazy quilt is made. they also in-clude elements of soap opera.

it’s amusing to see the “trials” the women face in garnering silks for their quilts. marie’s fiancée admonishes her not to be a boor and beg men for their silk handkerchiefs to include in her quilt. Heloise asks for samples from a dry-goods store and is handed bits of fabrics glued to cardboard, “because there were some ladies—he supposed they called themselves ladies—who were mean enough to come there for samples when they didn’t want to buy anything at all, but just used the silks for patchwork; that the firm had been driven to this expedient in self-defence.” And marie writes that her “Papa was in a fearful rage this morning because i cut the lining out of his spring overcoat. i found it on the attic stairs and the sleeves were lined with lovely rose-colored striped satin, which i cut out.”

what was it about crazy quilting that was so appealing to such a large number of the population of the united states? seemingly no coat, hat, cravat, or dress was safe from the scissors of a woman who had caught crazy fever. (Nor were chipmunks!) Huge amounts of time and money were invested to create these personalized works of art.

Crazy quilting may have represented an accepted form of rebellion. the Victorian era did have a strict social and moral code. rules to be followed unfailingly were everywhere. One certainly would not use one’s dessert spoon to stir coffee. Nor would breakfast tea be served in the af-ternoon. How refreshing it must have been to color outside the lines with a crazy quilt! Although ideas and guidelines were suggested, they could be followed or ignored. And, if a person wanted to create a crazy quilt entirely with ideas gleaned from their own imagination, they were heartily encouraged.

At a time when women did not have the right to vote in the united states, she could still incorporate a political ribbon into her patchwork to

14 c r a z y q u i l t s

make her thoughts on the subject known. she could relay her individual reading preferences by embroidering phrases or titles of books or authors onto her crazy quilt. Her religious beliefs, or lack thereof, could be incor-porated into her work by use of printed ribbons or embroidered symbols. using the Victorian language of flowers, she could embroider a message known only to those who knew the code. through her use of exquisite fabrics and silken threads, a woman could tell the world, “these are the things that are important to me; these are the things i love.”

1.7

1.8